If you are thinking about installing a new floor, consider these two tips for long-lasting success!
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If you are considering a new hard-floor installation, and wonder how the pros make it look so good, be mindful of these two potential mistakes. These two tips refer to hard floors; tile, hardwood, etc. It is really one tip with two issues that go hand-in-hand.
1: Never overlay an existing floor. Doesn’t matter what the flooring is – don’t cover it up. Remove it. There are a couple of reasons for this. The old floor may have flaws that won’t be noticeable until after the new floor is installed. Another reason is you may be adding too much weight for the floor structure to handle. And last, but not least, by overlaying an existing floor, you are raising the floor level to the point it can effect the cosmetics of base boards, casing, etc.
2: If there is a structural issue with the sub-floor, you want to address and repair the issue before installing the new floor. Such issues could cause the floor to fail prematurely. Nobody wants that!
That’s it – two easy steps to save you time, money , and aggravation.
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Photo/Flickr: anneheathen
We were tearing up our apartment carpet the other day because we kept stepping on part of the floor that would move more than it should. I was a little worried because I thought the floor was broken right there. After tearing it up we found that they put tile underneath the floors. I don’t know why they didn’t just keep the tile because for the most part, it looked really nice. We had to replace a couple of tiles, but I learned to never hide the floor underneath another layer of floor.
And if you decide on peel and stick tile use a checkerboard color scheme. Peel and stick tiles separate faster than conventional tiles. The checkerboard pattern fools the eye and hides the gaps. I know this from total regret of using a single pattern tile on a kitchen makeover.